What’s your “perfect morning?”
Mine is simple and will involve coffee, a chocolate croissant, and either reading or writing. Mornings should be quiet affairs where work is verbally silent and cognitively energizing. I write this from a MacBook as I sit in a chair, watching the sunrise.
I read a book this week that ruined my perfect morning in some significant ways.
The things we enjoy in our privileged lives often come to us through unfathomable human suffering and death. And it’s been this way for a long time.
A little sugar with your tea?
Sugar was in high demand in 18th Century England. A little sweetener to the tea made a perfect Georgian Era morning. Most Brits sipping sweetened tea in those days were unaware of the thousands of African slaves used in the West Indies to harvest and manufacture sugar, 1/3 of whom dying within three years of their arrival. This meant more slaves for more perfect morning teas.
Slavery ended in British territories in 1833.
American slavery was abolished in 1865.
Yet unethical supply chains for things we enjoy every day continue to this day.
“Our daily lives are powered by a human and environmental catastrophe in the Congo.”
Siddharth Kara, Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives
In 2014 I worked for an international nonprofit that did a lot of work in places like Burundi, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Having in lived for a significant time in Asia, I was not unfamiliar with life outside of America. But I had admittedly minimal experience with the African context. So I read about these places (before later visiting both Rwanda and Burundi). I quickly learned in my research that the order to understand Central Africa, it’s important to under the DRC.
Congo is far too complex to make any attempt to walk through her sad history. I will sum it up like this:
A disproportionate amount of the modern global economy is built from wealth taken from Congolese land and labor stolen from Congolese people.
It started with humans. Much of the supply for the Atlantic Slave trade came out of the Congo River basin. These are the people who supplied sugar, tea, and rum for English breakfasts and nightcaps.
The Industrial Revolution made rubber the next big thing. The world now had cars and trucks. Cars and trucks need tires. Tires need rubber. Almost all rubber was in Congo. Being under their control, the Belgians maximized rubber extraction by making failure to meet quota was punishable by death.
In these days it’s mining. Congo has an abundance of some of the most important minerals in the world, including copper, silver, gold, diamonds — and blue gold: Cobalt. This is a necessary substance for anything with a rechargeable battery — from cell phones to electric cars.
Cobalt Red tells the story of the global rush for something that used to be just paint pigment.
And the story is horrific. People have died so I could have this perfect little morning of coffee, chocolate, and writing on my laptop.
We won’t even start with the rest of my morning staples. Coffee and Chocolate have similar tragic stories starring people who find themselves at the very bottom of these supply chains. People who are doing backbreaking labor under horrific conditions for the equivalent of a dollar or two a day.
Yes, this is enough information to ruin a morning.
I’m not saying give up chocolate, coffee, or rechargeable devices. This is not a practical, plausible, or even helpful solution. Sure, as much as possible look for consumer goods that are ethically sourced. That’s the best we can do on the most practical level. Responsibility and the greatest power to act is at the corporate level.
Here’s what I think should happen.
Corporations who are raking in trillions of dollars like Apple, Samsung, Tesla, and General Motors need to reinvest earnings into the people of places like the DRC. If Capitalism is ever going to work, effective organizations must also be generous.
The people of Congo should be some of the wealthiest on the planet. The country should be one of the most developed. A regular Wakanda.
Instead, the DRC is plagued by civil war and violence, extreme poverty, and some of the worst health care in the world.
This should not be.
This can change.
Sometimes you read a book's characters, plot and story lines, or literary structure is what we find fascinating.
Sometimes you read a book and want to know how will we ever make a difference?
Cobalt Red is one of those books.
As a Growability consultant, my work is to develop leaders who will lead organizations that are both effective and generous. Apple, Samsung, Tesla, and General Motors are not my customers. But I wish they were. If they were, we’d be working to find effective partners to implement a generous strategy for investing in and empowering the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Pipe dream? Maybe.
But I’m looking and praying for opportunities to make that kind of difference.
Until the day comes, this is what my current assignments can expect.
Learn to be effective.
Learn to be generous.
Get educated on the realities in the DRC and Central Africa.
Here is my DRC related recommended reading list to get you started on this subject:
King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa
Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa
Strength in What Remains: A Journey of Remembrance and Forgetting (This is indirectly related, as it is about refugees from Burundi. But most central African wars stem from what’s happening in the DRC. This book personalizes the aftermath.)
I certainly don’t mean to ruin your perfect morning.
But I’d like this perfect morning to make someone else’s life a little better.
If we do have a conversation over coffee and chocolate croissant, let’s have this conversation.
Always remember—
You are doing better than you think.
You have more potential than you know.
B.
This is my every Sunday-ish newsletter containing bits and bobs of what I’m reading, writing, watching, thinking, and experimenting with this week. Every month I also send my complete notes from a book I’ve read, so you can decide if you want to read it too! Like the old version of Cliff’s Notes. But more Hobbit-like. Furry feetnotes.
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I am a consultant, coach, and trainer with Growability® Consulting, specializing in non-profit and cross-cultural business and leadership. Check out the Growability® Podcast at all your favorite podcast places.
A new conviction and a new reading list. Maybe listening as my macular degeneration degenerates.Love, Sally
Thanks Bernie 🙏